My weakness, after all
by LadyPalma
Summary: When the queens of darkness steals Rumple's gauntlet, Cruella has a chance to use it to discover Isaac's weakness, but only to realize that it is herself. So, she starts to look for him with the purpose to seduce him and finally get her revenge, but maybe something very different awaits her... [Authella - complete in 2 chapters]
1. Chapter 1

**Prompt: If Cruella and the Queens of Darkness were actually able to use Rumple's gauntlet to see their 'enemy's weaknesses' Cruella would be looking at her own reflection, realizes Isaacs only weakness is her...**

 **Notes: It's set in the EF before Regina's curse. The queens of darkness have stolen Rumple's gauntlet and he never had a chance to take it back.**

 **My weakness, after all**

 **Part 1**

In the end it was all about weaknesses, Cruella was sure of it. From her point of view, the plan to finally allow villains to win was simple: use the magic gauntlet, discover their enemies' weak point and try to find a way to use it against them. It had perfectly worked even on the infamous Rumplestiltskin; in fact taking advantage of his soft spot for his maiden was the only reason why the queens of darkness were now in possess of the precious gauntlet.

There was no margin of error, there was no chance to fail: every human being had a weakness, because humanity is weakness after all. Probably that was exactly the reason why Maleficent was now staring at her with a shocked expression; playfully using their new weapon on her friend, she had in fact just found herself in front of _nothing_. According to the gauntlet, Cruella had no weakness at all, maybe because she actually wasn't human.

"Don't look at me like that, I'm surprised as well!" the animal witch exclaimed, slightly widening her blue eyes. "I thought that at least a diamond bracelet or a fur would have appeared…"

The dragon lady glared at her and for a while just remained silent. She wanted to be the first one to use that gauntlet, but now she was actually a bit scared of what she could have possibly found. So, after a quick thoughts fight in her mind, she suddenly threw it to the other woman, that, after a first moment of confusion, didn't wait any longer to finally ask about the person she wanted so much to destroy. A wave of green magic came out from the magical object and after some moments a clear image appeared in front of her eyes. The reaction was immediate: she gasped and instictively she retracted herself, letting the gauntlet fall on the ground.

Whatever she had been imagining during those years, that chance never crossed her mind. And yet now, against her predictions, she had just been put in front of a mirror: in spite of everything, she herself was still the Author's greatest weakness.

"Have you gone mad? What have you seen?" Maleficent asked, quickly picking the gauntlet up. Only when she made sure that it wasn't broken, her worry seemed to move from it to her.

Cruella hesitated for a moment, feeling herself speechless probably for the first time in her life, but then suddenly an unexpected evil smirk crossed her face.

"Oh what a fool you are Isaac!" she exclaimed to herself, shaking her head almost amusingly. Only then she finally looked at her friend and her amusement faded into a determined expression. "Mal, darling, you will help me with my revenge, won't you?"

The dragon witch looked still confused, but nodded anyway. At that, Cruella's smile widened, she ironically hoped that Isaac would have been alright with being burned alive.

 _Seduction, deceit and fire_. Maybe it was all even easier than what she had thought before.

* * *

Looking for him had probably been the hardest part and, even with the help of a localization spell, she had had to cross half Enchanted Forest to finally find him. Pretending to be a carrier of clothes, hidden in a wooden cabin with a lot of books around him: that's what she grasped immediately when he opened the door and they found themselves to be face to face. For her, his reaction was hilarious; he suddenly widened his eyes and became so much pale that probably he was about to faint. He didn't move nor speak for at least a whole minute, and she took advantage of that shock to sneak into the cabin without being invited. Something told her that she wouldn't have had a chance otherwise.

"Uh, have you converted to whiskey now, darling?" she asked, after a quick look around and lingering eventually her eyes on the almost empty bottle on the table.

Somehow the sound of her voice made him recover and soon here he was, facing her again even with the hint of a smile. "Well, gin stood for bad memories…"

She chuckled softly and looked up. Slowly, she took some steps forward, as he instinctively took some steps back; the scene was hilarious once again for her and it was even more when he reached the wall with his back and she was only inches away from him.

"Why, Isaac, am I a bad memory?" Her voice was soft and seductive and while she was speaking, the distance was reduced even more.

But he didn't fall for it, not yet at least. "What do you want?" he snapped with a glare, not making the slightest attempt to move though.

Her widened eyes seemed to go soft now, the smile vanished from her lips and her expression grew strangely serious. Oh, how well she could wear a sad look! How many people she had already fooled with that – including him; and how many people she could have still fooled – including him.

"I'm sorry. I've been looking for you everywhere, I –" she stopped and for a moment he actually feared that she would have even let out some tears. Probably it would have given more credibility to the fiction she was creating, but she wasn't capable of that much. "We didn't leave each other on good terms and it was my fault. But I've missed you, darling. Can you forgive me?"

She widened her eyes a little more and then, without any prediction, she dared to place a soft kiss on his lips. She grinned internally when, not after longer, she felt him kissing her back: some kind words, a good look and he was back again into her spider web. She was his weakness after all. However that feeling of victory didn't last long, because suddenly he surprised her breaking the kiss and grabbing both her wrists.

"There's not a chance in Hell that I believe you" he hissed and pushed her a bit distant from himself.

Cruella instantly widened her eyes again, but this time it was no fiction. His voice sounded tired, cinical, evil and the look on his face was full of a determined despair. In front of him, probably for the first time ever she was feeling fear and most of all an unknown sense of remorse, while she found herself asking in her mind: _what the hell have I done to him?_

After a moment of shock she tried to wiggle out of him, but in vain. "Let go of me!"

Those attempts only made him tighten his grips; with another unexpected move, he exchanged their positions and now she was the one trapped against the wall. "You were the one to come here!"

And it was true, she was the one who had tried to deceive him again, she was the one who had underestimated him, she was the one who should have deserved now to pay for that.

"What do you want to do now, darling?" she provoked, forcing a weird smile. "Punish me for what I did to you! Kill me! Do it now!"

Cruella looked like a crazy woman while begging for death, and indeed she really was. Maybe all the purpose of that search had been exactly that one. That meeting had to end with the death of one of them and honestly, she would have been satisfied both ways: either seeing him dying or dying herself.

Isaac just stared at her for some moments with an unreadable expression, then suddenly released her wrists and moved his hands up her arms and shoulders, until he placed them around her neck.

"Kill me…" she hissed again, with an even crazier sparkle in her eyes.

He hesitated another moment, but then the pressure she was waiting for didn't arrive. Instead, he just reduced the distance between them again and gave start to a new kiss – this time more intense. His hands slowly fell off her neck and naturally started to remove her fur, lingering then on her curves still covered by her long black dress. She could feel them slightly shivering, but they were exploring her body with an unexpected desire, dare and almost anger. He clearly wanted her and, even if she wasn't encouraging him, there still she was, responding to his kisses and not trying to get free.

According to her plan, she should have just flirted with him just until she could feel him in her power, but yet now things were going more further than that and she was feeling herself to be completely in _his_ power instead. She allowed him to touch her, to undress her, to take her and actually she was enjoying every single moment of that sort of sharp gentleness.

"Do you want me to stop?" he suddenly asked, revealing his undying caring side.

But they were already on the bed, her dress was already on the floor and she was already more _wet_ than she had even thought possible. It was too late for her to step back, because now she totally wanted him too. So she just chuckled at his sudden concern and it was a sharp chuckle. With a sudden move, she pushed him with his back on the bed and exchanged their positions; it was time to prove her total consent to that union, and most of all to show him what rough passion really tasted like.

Gasping for life, that night they made love with death.

And that meant pleasure, strenght and… _weakness_.

 **To be continued...**


	2. Chapter 2

**My weakness, after all**

 **Part 2**

When she woke up some hours later, she didn't feel good and she actually even thought that she wasn't herself anymore. Because she was feeling calm, relaxed, somehow content and those were not good feelings according to her. Maybe she was living into a limbo and it was all a trick of a still sleeping mind, but dreaming was another thing not so typical of Cruella De Vil – at least not a dream like this. So, no, she wasn't feeling good, she wasn't feeling like herself, but the worst part was that for a moment she didn't give a damn.

Silently, she just pressed more her cheek against his chest and slowly moved her arm to embrace him; she remained like that for a while and even closed her eyes again. Oh, how she would have liked not to be herself. Perhaps if she were a normal woman, she would accept that love he was given her, give up her demons and even welcome her happy ever after… An unavoidable chuckle escaped her lips at that thought and that was the sound that suddenly ruined the moment. In fact, he gently grabbed both her shoulders and slowly made her move a bit away from him; in a matter of ten seconds they were face to face and now, looking straight into his eyes, pretending turned out to be not so easy.

"You can kill me, I don't mind… After this" he said, with such a calmness and a determination that left her astonished.

Perhaps it was true that he didn't mind about dying in that moment: he had what he wanted after all, he had a glimpse of life, a taste of darkness, a moment of love, and he had _her_. But if that night was all he had been living for, then in her opinion he didn't deserve to live anyway. A perspective of his lifeless body and her own thrill of revenge filled suddenly her mind: she was back to be herself completely and it was all thanks to his _tragic sentimentallism_. She smiled again and slowly approached him until she placed a soft kiss on his cheek. And it was a _Judas's kiss_.

"Oh, you are so so weak, darling" she just whispered into his ear.

Quickly she stood up and like a thunder dressed up, until less than five minutes later she was ready to disappear and fullfill the duty both of them knew about. He didn't try to stop her, she didn't have second thoughts, but before opening the door she casted a last glance to him. It was a huge mistake.

Despite her being herself again and despite feeling the desire to take revenge on him, somehow she didn't call for Maleficent and simply walked away from the cabin, letting him live.

Perhaps he didn't care about dying, but for some strange reasons _she_ did.

* * *

Maleficent was concerned about Cruella or maybe it was more correct to say that she was confused. A lot of days were passed since their conversation about revenge and the animal witch had come back from her journey empty handed. Not only, but she had never mentioned anything about it and acted like nothing ever happened. That behaviour seemed quite strange and maybe in the end Maleficent _was_ concerned after all, but more for herself, because she was still having some trusty issues about her so called "friend". And honestly, looking at her an alcoholic furious girl wrapped in furs, who wouldn't? Besides, as far as she had discovered, Cruella had no weaknesses and that was the part that made her _dangerous_.

"What about your revenge? I thought you needed my help…" she asked one day, bluntly, while they were heading to the Charmings in order to stop Regina's curse.

Cruella instinctively widened her eyes and stopped in her track. But that uncertainty lasted only for a moment and the next one she was already hinting a smile. "Oh, darling, I managed to do otherwise… " she simply said, but her smile looked actually bitter and that was something that didn't pass unnoticed.

In fact, as the animal witch started to walk again reaching Ursula, Maleficent was left behind and kept on studying her for some moments. If she had really got her revenge, then why was still siding with them? Why was she so evasive about her glorious deed? And why, finally, didn't she look happy? Because it was clear that for a villain revenge had to be the key of happiness, but instead she looked even more desperate than before: the tripled amount of gin proved it.

So, with her mind full of questions and doubts, she decided to take the matter into her own hands and, out of the other two witches' sight, she extracted the gauntlet from the little luggage she had hidden it in. The answers might have been there, in case this time it would have showed something, of course. As hoped but not really expected, the gauntlet did show _something_ after all. Apparently, Cruella De Vil had developed a weakness in the meanwhile and suddenly she was no so dangerous anymore.

A satisfied smile crossed Maleficent's lips as she stared down at the clear image of her ally's weak point. All the previous questions had vanished, but at the mean time a new one appeared – and this time it was simply made out of curiosity.

 _Who the Hell was that man with a book in one hand and a glass of something in the other?_

 **-The end-**


End file.
